Adhesively attached disposable mop



Nov. 26, 1968 D. K. GRIFFIN 3,412,418

ADHESIVELY ATTACHED DISOSABLE MOP Filed Feb. 7, 1968 044/14 A. GR/FF//V ATToRNr-:Ys- Y United States Patent Oce 3,412,418 ADHESIVELY ATTACHED DISPOSABLE MOP Dana K. Griffin, Detroit, Mich., assignor of fifty percent to John R. Wilson, Birmingham, Mich. n; Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 627,793, t Apr. 3, 1967. This application Feb. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 707,369

1 Claim. (Cl. 15--229) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mop having a releasably attached, disposable mop pad which is secured to a mop pad carrier by a pressuresensitive adhesive means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This is a continuation-in-part applic-ation of application Serial No. 627,793, filed April 3, 1967, now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to the mop art, and more particularly to an improved mop employing a disposable mop pad.

Some prior art mops employ a permanent type of metal frame or mop pad carrier over which is mounted an envelope-type head for attaching a mop pad to the carrier. The attachment of such a mop pad with an envelope head on a permanent-type mop frame is time-consuming. Other prior art mops have employed complicated clamping means for securing a mop pad to a mop pad carrier, and such mops are expensive and time-consuming to operate. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved mop construction employing 'a disposable mop pad which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art mop structures.

It is another object of the present invention to provide ran improved low-cost mop which is compact Iand simple in construction, light in weight, and efficient in use.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a disposable mop pad which is prelaundered, pretreated to pick up dirt, pretreated hygienically for use in hospitals, and which may be thrown yaway when it becomes dirty and replaced with a similar mop pad in a quick and easy manner.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a disposable mop construction which includes a permanent mop pad carrier on which may be releasably attached a disposable mop pad in a quick and easy manner by an adhesive attachment means.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a disposable mop construction which includes an elongated mop pad carrier having a flat bottom surface, a handle lattached to the upper side of said mop pad carrier, a mop pad for yattachment to the flat bottom surface of said mop pad carrier, and adhesive means -foi releasably attaching said mop pad to said llat bottom surface of said mop pad carrier. The adhesive means is attached to the mop pad, and is covered by a waxed strip of paper or the like for shipping and storage purposes.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide -a mop construction incorporating a disposable mop pad, the combination comprising an elongated mop pad carrier having a flat bottom surface; a handle attached to the upper side of said mop carrier; a mop pad for attachment to the flat bottom surface of said mop pad carrier; pressure-sensitive adhesive means for releasably attaching said mop pad to said flat bottom surface of said mop pad carrier; said adhesive means being initially applied to said mop pad, the adhesive means being covered with a detachable sheet of covering material before the mop pad is mounted on the mop pad carrier; the face of the mop being of the strand type and said mop pad being 3,412,418 Patented Nov. 26, 1968 flexible and foldable upon itself to conserve space for storage and shipment with the sheet of covering material preventing adhesion of the adjacent coated faces of the pad when folded; and, said sheet of covering material being removed from the adhesive before mounting the mop pad on the mop pad carrier.

Other objects, vfeatures and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a mop construction made in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing a disposable mop pad in -a position before attachment to the mop pad carrier;

FIG. 2 is an elevational section view of the mop construction shown in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2 2 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment showing `a second adhesive means for releasably attaching a disposable mop pad to the mop pad carrier;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a third embodiment showing a third adhesive means for releasably attaching the disposable mop to the mop pad carrier;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of `a fourth embodiment showing #a fourth adhesive means `for releasably attaching the disposable mop pad to the mop pad carrier; and,

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a mop pad of the strand type in its folded protected storage position.

Referring now to the drawing, and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral 10 generally designates a mop pad carrier or block which is elongated and substantially rectangular in over-all plan configuration. The mop pad carrier 10 may be made from any suitable material, as for example, wood, plastic and the like. The mop pad carrier 10 may be provided with any suitable handle and attachment structure since the invention is not concerned with such structure. However, for illustration purposes, a fragmentary portion of a handle 11 has been shown as being attached by the attachment plate 12 which carries hinge pins 13 at each end thereof that are hingedly mounted in suitable holes in a pair of spaced apart bracket legs 14. The bracket legs 14 are secured to a bracket base plate 15 that is mounted in an elongated slot 16 formed on the upper side of mop pad carrier or block 10.

As shown in FIGS. l and 2, a mop pad 17, made from any suitable material, is adapted to be pressed against and releasably attached to the mop pad carrier 10 by the following described adhesive means. The mop pad 17 is prelaundered and pretreated with a germicide agent which will kill staph germs and it is :also pretreated to pick up dirt. The pad 17 may be made from any suitable absorbent material well known to those skilled in the mop art, such as cotton, felt, sponge rubber, or other well known materials. The face of the mop is of the strand type, and the mop pad is exible and foldable upon itself to conserve space for storage in shipment, as shown in FIG. 6. The numeral 24 in FIGS. l and 6 designates the mop strands.

As shown in FIGS. 1 land 2, the mop pad 17 is adapted to be pressed against and releasably attached to the at bottom surface 22 of the mop pad carrier 10 by a doublefaced ladhesive means. The double-faced adhesive means includes an adhesive carrier sheet 19, made from any suitable material and which has a layer of -any suitable permanent adhesive 18 applied on the lower side thereof for attaching the adhesive carrier sheet 19 to the -top surface of the mop pad 17. Carried on the upper face of the adhesive carrier sheet 19 is a layer of any suitable pressuresensitive adhesive 20 for :attaching the mop pad 17 to the at bottom surface 22 of the mop pad carrier 10.

It will be understood that the user would be provided with a mop pad carrier 10 with the attached handle assembly and with a supply of detachable mop pads 17. The mop pads 17 with the aforedescribed adhesive applied are packaged in units of 12, 24 and so forth. In order to prevent the mop pads 17 from sticking -to each other during shipping and storage periods, a sheet of suitable covering material 21, as waxed paper, is mounted over the outer face of the layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive material 20. It will be understood that when the user wishes to attach a clean mop pad 17 to the fiat bottom surface 22 of the mop pad carrier 10, the waxed paper 21 would be stripped from the pressure-sensitive adhesive 20. In FIG. 1, the numeral 23 indicates the lifted one end of the waxed paper 21 to show the starting of the stripping of the waxed paper from the pressure-sensitive adhesive 20. When it is desired to replace the mop pad 17 with a clean mop pad, the user merely grasps the mop pad 17 at one end thereof and peels the mop pad from the mop pad carrier surface 22 and then applies a clean new mop pad 17 in the same manner as described for the first applied mop pad 17. The waxed paper 21 comprises a sheet of covering material for preventing adhesion of the adjacent coated faces of the pad 17 when it is folded for shipment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment wherein the adhesive means for securing the mop pad to the mop pad carrier is initially applied to the mop pad carrier. The parts of the embodiment of FIG. 3 which are the same as the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated with the same reference numerals followed by the small letter a. In this embodiment, the permanent adhesive 18a secures the adhesive carrier sheet 19a to the flat bottom surface 22:.1 of the mop pad carrier 10a. The adhesive carrier sheet 19a is provided with the layer of pressuresensitive adhesive 20a which is covered by the sheet of waxed paper 21a before the mop pad 17a is mounted on the mop pad carrier 10a, for shipping and storage purposes.

FIG. 4 illustrates a third embodiment wherein the adhesive means for attaching the mop pad to the mop pad carrier comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive sprayed directly on the mop pad. The parts of the embodiment of FIG. 4 which are the same as the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 have been designated with the same reference numerals followed by the small letter b.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive 24 has been applied directly to the top surface of the mop pad 17b by being sprayed on or by any other suitable method. Before `the mop pad 17b is pressed on the bottom at surface 22b of the mop pad carrier 10b, the adhesive 24b may be covered with a detachable sheet of waxed paper 23b or any other suitable covering material, for shipping and storage purposes.

FIG. illustrates a fourth embodiment in which the adhesive means is initially mounted on the mop pad carrier. The parts of the embodiment of FIG. 5 which are the same as the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 have been marked with the same reference numerals followed by the small letter c. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive 24e has been applied to the flat bottom surface 22C of the mop pad carrier 10c. A suitable strip of waxed paper or the like indicated by the numeral 21C is employed to initially cover the adhesive 24a` before the mop pad 17e is mounted on the mop pad carrier 10c, for shipping and storage purposes.

The mop handle has been deleted from the embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 for the sake of simplicity of disclosure. It will be understood that the mop pad carriers of these embodiments are each provided with a suitable handle in the same manner as illustrated for the embodiment of FIG. 1.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

1. In a mop construction incorporating a disposable mop pad, the combination comprising:

(a) an elongated mop pad carrier having a iiat bottom surface;

(b) a handle attached to the upper side of said mop carrier;

(c) a mop pad for attachment to the flat bottom surface of said mop pad carrier;

(d) pressure-sensitive adhesive means for releasably attaching said mop pad to said flat bottom surface of said mop pad carrier;

(e) said adhesive means being initially applied to said mop pad;

(f) the adhesive means being covered with a detachable sheet of covering material before the mop pad is mounted on the mop pad carrier;

(g) the face of the mop being of the strand type and said mop pad being flexible and foldable upon itself to conserve space for storage and shipment with the sheet of covering material preventing adhesion of the adjacent coated faces of the pad when folded; and

(h) said sheet of covering material being removed from the adhesive before mounting the mop pad on the mop pad carrier.

References Cited NITED STATES PATENTS 2,644,280 7/1953 oNeil 51-406 2,853,730 9/1958 Belsky et a1. 15-2o9 3,289,236 12/1966 sa-lka 15-210 3,307,211 3/1967 Gaines.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner. 

